


Pick-up Post-its

by Flashfight



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Fem!Barry - Freeform, FlashWave Week 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 09:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9602309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flashfight/pseuds/Flashfight
Summary: Mick begins finding notes from an admirer with a sense of humor almost as bad as Len, and gains new locker neighbor at the same time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if there are any mistakes. I hope you enjoy!

“Oh wow, that's… that's adorable? And so, so terrible. Lenny, I knew your puns were bad, but I didn't know your pickup lines were just as cringe-inducing.”

“Not my handiwork, but the craftsmanship is impressive.”

It was red post-it note, glaringly obvious against the tan of Mick’s locker. There was a short message on it that simply read, _“I should call you Google, because you have everything I’m looking for.”_ It was a dumb, cheesy pick-up line that the Snart siblings found hilarious and that Mick had no business finding cute. He was totally gonna keep it, though. For evidence of course. Not because it make him chuckle when he thought Len wasn’t looking. Although, there was something weird about it. That little symbol on the bottom, a small lightning bolt in a circle, obviously the sender’s signature. Mick turned to a still chuckling Leonard.

“Snart, I've seen this before…” But before either one could say anything else, a slight girl skidded to stop next to them, wide eyes seemingly shocked, as if _they_ were somehow the ones that appeared out of nowhere.

“Excuse me! Sorry, just gotta-” Oh, wait, Mick knew who this kid was. Barry Allen. Perpetually late, never stopped talking, and all the social grace of a three-legged giraffe. She was also a walking fire hazard and the person who told off Prof. Thawne for being a dick last year. Mick loved this kid.

“Allen.”

“Ah! Uh, hey, hi there! Mick Rory, right? I just, um - this is my locker now? Cause, ya know, my old one is, uh, broken?” Barry stammered and stuttered through the entire sentence, clearly uncomfortable. It wasn’t all that surprising that she knew who Mick was, he’d gotten in enough trouble over the years to be somewhat recognisable, but she didn’t look scared, just shy and a little awkward. Len quirked an eyebrow at fidgeting teen.

“Broken? What happened to it?”

“Tony. Tony happened.” The restless movement stopped for just a moment as Barry’s whole body slumped in what could only be called resigned annoyance before Len leveled her with a searching gaze, and she returned to nervously playing with her hair.

“Uh-huh. And administration put you here?” It was a valid question. Mick’s locker was in an out-of-the-way corner of the school. Nobody came that way unless they were trying to take a shortcut to Wells’ classroom, and even then said shortcut was a fairly well kept secret.

“C’mon Lenny, it’s not like she asked the school to put her here,” said Lisa.

“Oh, well, actually I did! It's pretty close to my chem class, but I didn't know that your locker was here. Not to say that I wouldn’t ask for a locker here if I knew yours was here, I mean, it’s not really an issue for me, but I could move if you want? If I’m bothering you?” As Barry chattered on Mick couldn’t decide if he was more annoyed or amused by how flustered the poor girl was. He settled on charmed. It was at that point the homeroom bell decided to ring, breaking through Barry’s nervous word vomit.

“Oh, I should probably, uh, go! Bye!” And with that, she was gone as fast as she had appeared, booking it down the hallway and gone from sight in only a few short seconds. Lisa, along with the rest of the small group, looked on in wonder, then turned to the other two.

“ _Wow._ I have _never_ seen someone run that fast. Does she do track or something?” Lisa looked back, craning her neck as if to spot the girl, which Mick definitely wasn’t going to do since the girl would already be long gone.

“Kid’s in my chem class. Don't think she's been on time _once_ ,” said Mick, glancing over Lisa’s head to look down the hall.

“Ooo, keeping an eye on her, huh?” Lisa elbowed him in side, giggling.

“She's got a knack for accidentally setting things on fire,” another trait of hers Mick thought was great.

Len snickered, “A match made in heaven then.” Mick was tempted to agree.

{}  


“Um, good morning.” It only took a little over a week for Barry to break their usual routine of moderately awkward silence. Mick had already put that day’s pick-up post-it on the back of his locker ( _Are you a boxer? ‘Cause you're a knockout!_ ) and was grabbing his Trig textbook when she walked up, wringing her hands nervously.

“So, um, I was gonna ask you, uh-”

“Spit it out, kid.” Barry jumped at the sound of his voice, eyes going impossibly wide.

“R-right, sorry!” Her eyes went from wide open to tightly shut as she took a steadying breath. When she began to speak again she was only peeking at him from under her eyelashes, hands trembling just the slightest bit. “My old lab partner, Bette, moved, and I was wondering, would you, uh… be my new partner?”

“I have a partner.” Anxious as she was, Mick had to give Barry credit. She didn’t back down, even at his obvious rebuttal. In fact, it looked like she had steeled her resolve. It put Mick off guard. Not that Barry was some sort of coward, but after her mother died she became so skittish, like every shadow was hiding a deadly secret. Not that he paid enough attention to know that personally. Seeing her so certain was new, almost refreshing.

“Well, yeah, but you openly despise Joey, and he thinks you're an idiot, which is obviously untrue, considering you're in AP Chemistry,” Barry argued.

Mick tilted his head in agreement. “Fair point. Why me?” Barry gave him a breathless laugh and small smile.

“You're really smart, and you won't get mad if I blow something up.”

“… You get one week. If you annoy me, find someone else,” Mick said, smirking just enough to let her know he meant no ill will. Evidently it got through, as a relieved grin broke out on Barry’s face. Mick found he much preferred it to the huddled, anxious version of her he’d seen just a moment ago.

“Deal.”

{}

“Hiya!”

“Hm.” When Barry slid into Mick’s awareness one morning weeks later, he was groggily trying to read that day’s post-it (He would later learn it read _If I had a star for every time you brightened my day, I'd have a galaxy in my hand!_ , but that wouldn’t be until after 3rd period.), but any attempt to be a decently functioning human being at eight in the morning would be thrown out the window at his lockermate’s sudden appearance.

“What's that for?” she asked, trying to get a glimpse at the note in his hand. Mick quickly threw it to the back of his locker with the other notes from his admirer, loving dubbed Red for the red post-its they wrote each dumb pick-up line on.

“None of your business, that’s what it’s for.” Mick shoved his hand vaguely in the direction of Barry’s face, forcing her out of his personal space, with her laughing all the while.

“Well, that's fair. Anyway, what did get for number 12 on the biochem homework?”

“Since when are we friends?” grumbled Mick, fully regretting it the moment it left his mouth.

“We're friends?” Barry, luckily for him, decided to pick up on the less asshole-ish part of his question. Alright, good, all he to do was not be an asshole with the next words that came out of his mouth.

“Since when did you _assume_ we're friends?” Well, fuck.

“Since you saved me from Mr. Wells when I accidentally set his apron on fire.”

“Still don't know how the hell you pulled _that_ off. Anyway, we're lab partners. Savin’ my ass ment savin’ yours too. I ain't gonna be stuck with some dumbass just because _you're_ accident prone.” Mick thanked any and every god out there that Barry was so good-natured because nothing he said before 11 AM was anything less than dickish.

“Aw, you'd miss me. I'd miss you too, Mick.” Well this had to stop immediately. Mick was not about to have _feelings_ this early in the morning.

“… Whatever. Don't you have Trig right now?” He only felt a little bad about the panicked look on Barry’s face as the first period bell rang.

“Ah! Wardwell’s gonna kill me, bye Mick!” As his lab partner ran off to be late for the third time that week, Mick stood idly for a moment and watched as her figure turned a corner and disappeared. She was gone before he had time to say a word, and his farewell echoed in the empty hall.

“See ya later, doll.”

{}

“Mick, Mick!” Never one to enter the scene quietly, Barry skidded to a stop just behind Mick, eyes bright with excitement. His note for day was already safely secured (Today was _If I’m vinegar, then you must be baking soda. Because you make me feel all bubbly inside!_ He loved it.), and the bulky teen leaned on his locker to take in whatever Barry was about to gush about. “Mick, remember that extra credit assignment Mr. Wells gave us?”

“No.”

“Perfect! So, I have a pretty good idea of what we should do, but I just want to know if you have any suggestions.”

“We?” By this point Barry knew what Mick was like in the morning, and while Mick wasn’t too afraid of hurting her feelings, he was genuinely confused as to how he had been drafted into her science project.

“We're going to make three flamethrowers; a small one with a lighter, a bigger one with an aerosol can, and a _really_ big one with a Super Soaker. We’ll measure the distance the flames travel, the intensity of the heat, and then we have to write a mini essay about the experiment so I figure we can write about how the fuel, oxygen, and heat interact in order to create the flames.”

“Wait, wait. So you're suggesting we make, not one, but three makeshift flamethrowers, fire them at stuff, call it science, and then hand that in for a grade.” The only response he got was some rapid nodding and grin so bright it put every fire he’d seen to shame. He unconsciously returned it with his own soft smile.

“Okay.”

“So you're in?”

“I don't think I ever had much choice, but yes. … I can keep the flamethrowers, right?” Barry’s smile got impossibly bigger. Lunging forward, she wrapped her arms around Mick’s waist, tightly embracing him for the briefest moment. And before he could do anything, before he could even be certain of what he supposed to feel, the moment was over, and she had pulled back.

“Thanks Mick! I knew I could count on you. I'll talk to you later!” Suddenly she was dashing down the hall, and once again all he could do was turn and watch her retreating figure. Unfortunately for him, they weren’t the only ones in the hall during the exchange.

“Shut up.”

Len and Lisa stood nearby, the former smirking wickedly, the latter barely containing her delighted laughter. Len started, “I'm not-”

“Shut it, both of you.” Lisa had given up on containing anything at that point.

“Mm-hm, no problem,” Len assured.

It was going to be a problem.

{}

“You know, one of you is going to get arrested for arson one of these days.” It was the day after the first tests of their biggest flamethrower, the Super Soaker, and had gone _perfectly_ in Mick’s opinion, his newly singed hairline aside. Lisa, apparently, was less amused.

“Yeah, but it'll be worth it when it happens,” said Barry, still riding high after yesterday’s events. True, they almost blew themselves up few times, but Barry had gotten some great data, and Mick got to set some hay bales on fire. Win-win.

Lisa eyed them critically. “Do you two have a deathwish?” Mick shrugged happily.

“Eh, probably.”

{}

“Ooo, here comes your girl!”

“Shut it, Lisa.”

“Hey Barry~” Mick was hanging around his locker with Lisa, waiting for 8th period to roll around when Barry came around (Lisa had dropped by to see that day’s note, _You must be a hell of a thief, because you stole my heart!_ , which she found endlessly funny.).

“Oh! Hi Lisa! What's up?”

“Did Cisco tell you the big news?”

“That you tricked him into going on a date? Yes, he was very excited about it. Congratulations!” The surprising part was that Barry seemed genuinely happy that her best friend had been fooled, but then again ‘tricked into a date’ didn’t sound that terrible.

“Tricked? Me? _Never_.” Lisa’s flippant air softened slightly. “… He really had a good time?”

“Are you kidding? You're _Lisa Snart_ , just basking in your resplendence is enough to make him swoon.”

“Don't make her head bigger than it already is, kid.”

Lisa waved him off dismissively. “Hush Mick. You know what, we should have a double date sometime, wouldn't that be fun?” Mick already didn’t like where this was going.

“Oh yeah, you two, me and my totally real boy/girlfriend. What's the neutral term for that? Significant other?” Barry scrunched her forehead in thought, lips pulled into the same little frown she had when she was solving a complex problem. Not that Mick paid enough attention to remember something like that.

“Cisco likes to call us datemates,” Lisa said dreamily.

“Huh. Yeah, that works. Or, ya know, it would, if I had one.”

“Oh, I think your ‘special someone’ is closer than you think. Right Mick?”

“Uh-huh. Just like the warning bell for eighth period.” And at just that moment the bell signaling Barry’s oncoming lecture on punctuality from Prof. Thawne decided to ring.

“Oh c’mon! I'm never gonna be on time for Thawne’s class, am I? See ya later!”

“Bye hon!” Lisa shouted, just as Barry rounded the corner.

{}

“So I see Red’s still giving you the slip.” Len had stopped by the following afternoon, both see the newest post-it ( _When I first saw you I looked for a signature, because every masterpiece has one_.) and to discuss the person leaving them.

“I can't keep watch all day. There's no pattern or something that they follow. They just show up whenever I'm not here.” It was frustrating. Mick wanted to know who was leaving the notes. The only problem was, if it wasn’t who he thought it was, he wouldn’t know where to go from there.

“And you have no idea who it could be.” Len’s inquiry breaks him out of his thoughts.

“… I swear I've seen that symbol before, but it's generic enough that I can't be sure where.” He’s almost certain he knows where, but he has no proof, and he hasn’t had a chance to steal her notebook yet.

“Hm. Well, I'll let you know if I see anything. We could just pay Mardon to keep an eye on the locker you know.”

“Ain't that serious. Red’ll show up eventually, just give it time.”

“My my, I've never known you to be so patient.”

“… Some things are worth waitin’ for.”

{}

He was wrong. So, so wrong.

“This is a really bad idea. Like, I've had a lot of bad ideas, but this is the worst.”

“Worse than the flamethrowers?”

“Yes. Without a doubt, worse than the flamethrowers.” Currently, Mick was playing wingman to a very nervous Barry, who was totally going to ask Linda Park to homecoming. If she didn’t faint first.

He’d waited too long.

The knowledge sat like a rock in his chest.

“Look, just ask her. If she says no, I'll go with you.” _Do your best to support her. This is what she wants. Even if what she wants isn’t you anymore._

“What.” She froze. _Why did you even say that?_

“It's homecoming, we're not getting married. Besides, Spice Girl’s gonna say yes.” _You didn’t get a note today. You had wondered why._

“Spice Girl?” She loosened up, the nickname enough to distract her from her nerves. _You did one thing right._

“I saw her eat like, ten chili peppers at once, okay? Spice Girl. Now go ask her out.” Barry gave a wry smile before going over to Linda. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but couldn’t imagine anyone in their right mind would say no. Which makes it all the more surprising when Barry comes back over with a resigned look on her face.

“No dice?” _Try not to be happy, try not to be happy…_

“Get this; she's already going with _Iris_. Of all people.”

“Ouch. Well hey, you tried. Let me know what color dress you're gonna wear.” _Hell yes._

“Wha- Wait, you were serious?”

“Yeah. Why not? C’mon, let's get to chemistry.”

“I- uh, yeah. Yeah, okay.”

{}  


It was two days before homecoming when Len brought up the elephant in the room. “Red hasn't shown up for a couple days.”

“Probably busy with homecoming.” Mick tried not to look smug. It was a struggle.

“Is that so?” A struggle Len saw right through if his tone was any indication.

“Hell if I know, man.”

“Hm.” The silence was thick, but not because Len was angry or disappointed. He was looking for something. Mick wasn’t sure what. He never was. “Well, I suppose you got what you wanted in the end, right?”

“I’d be happy sitting at home with a beer and a _Firefly_ marathon. This isn’t for me.” Len only looked deeper, catching Mick’s eyes as if to hold them captive in his searching gaze. Apparently, he found what he was looking for.

“Barry’s always eating. Should take her to Nonna’s afterward. She’d like that.” The two shared a soft smile.

“I'll think about it.”

{}  


“I can't _believe_ they let you bring that dumb thing! I mean, how, _how_ did you convince Principal Henshaw to let you do that?!” Said ‘ _dumb thing_ ’ being their moderately sized flamethrower, and ‘ _that_ ’ being start a small bonfire outside the school.

“It took a solid two weeks, but I think Wells _and_ Thawne backing me up clinched it.” For science, they said. Let’s show off the accomplishments of the students, they said. I would like to set something on fire legally, Mick said.

“If _those_ two can agree on something, it _must_ be a miracle.” Barry hadn’t stopped giggling since they set foot in Nonna’s, and Mick wasn’t about to stop her.

“Miracles had nothing to do with it. It was the sheer power of three self-destructive nerds who want to see the world burn.” Mick was leaning back in the booth, feeling as good as Barry was in that moment.

“So you admit you're a nerd.”

“If being a nerd means I get to set stuff on fire without being arrested, I got nothin’ to be ashamed of, doll.”

The laughter tapered off, just a bit, giving way to confusion. “Doll? You’ve never called me that before.”

“Yeah, well. I figured if you can leave me cheesy pick-up lines, I can give you a pet names from the ‘50s.” Barry’s face went pale as she absorbed what he’d said. “Ya know, I wasn’t sure you were the one leavin’ notes on my locker ‘til I saw you drawing in your chem notebook. Kept seein’ that lightning bolt. The same one that Red left on every note they gave me.” Barry went from pale to bright red almost immediately, tugging on her hair nervously.

“I just… I really admired you in school. You’re so smart, but no-one seems to appreciate you as much you deserve, ya know? I know you have Lisa and Len, but I’ve heard people call you thick and stupid, and that’s so wrong. I even saw you boxing once after school, and I was blown away by how focused and powerful you were. I just wanted to do something to make you smile. It was kinda weird, wasn’t it?”

“I liked it. It was cute, doll. In fact, I still have most of ‘em in the back of my locker.”

“Wait, you _kept_ them? Seriously?”

“I look at ‘em when I’m havin’ an off day. If they’re supposed to make me smile, they do their job.” As if to prove his point, Mick smiled softly from across the table.

Barry returned the gesture timidly. “So… now what?”

Shrugging loosely, Mick said, “Well, I assume you’re into me, and the feeling is mutual, so I asked you to homecoming and now we’re on a date.”

“This is a date?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“Yes!” Barry said eagerly.

“Then we’re dating.”

Her smile grew brighter before she began giggling again. “So, datemates?

Mick thought for a moment. It was good, but it wasn’t quite them. “I prefer partners. Are we dating, are we robbing a bank together? Who knows. Maybe both.”

“Probably not, but I would love to be your partner.” She reached a hand across the table. He looked up at her for a moment before reaching to gently hold her hand in his.


End file.
